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Growing up in the Chicagoland area during Michael Jordan's legendary career, I, like millions of others, idolized him. However, my admiration for MJ extended far beyond his unparalleled skills on the basketball court. He epitomized excellence, demonstrating what it truly means to master one’s craft and perform at the highest level. He is the GOAT (greatest of all time)!
As I transitioned into the workforce, my fascination with top performers in my industry deepened. I began to ask myself: What traits set them apart? How do they sustain their exceptional performance year after year?
Fortunately, I joined an organization that prioritized its people, recognizing talent as one of its most valuable assets. They made substantial investments in optimizing their talent offense, understanding that their success hinged on the ability to attract, develop, and retain top-tier talent. They partnered with Gallup to adopt a robust talent framework that would guide this endeavor - utilizing CliftonStrengths as the framework to set us all up for success.
While learning this framework, I participated in various management trainings and strengths coaching sessions. It was a transformative experience that unveiled the innate talents and strengths each of us possess—elements that are either hardwired from birth or shaped by early life experiences influencing our thoughts, behaviors, and actions.
If you are not familiar, the CliftonStrengths assessment identifies 34 distinct themes that describe your talent DNA. Upon completing the StrengthsFinder assessment, you receive a detailed report ranking all 34 themes in order of how intensely they show up for you. The order reveals your greatest strengths and opportunities to maximize your potential. While many individuals instinctively search for their lowest-ranked talents and focus on how to improve them, Gallup emphasizes that “while failure can be avoided by focusing on weaknesses, excellence is only achieved when we focus on and leverage our strengths”.
Your top 10 strengths are akin to tools in your tool belt; they are the innate talents you employ consistently and almost effortlessly. Often, people may not recognize these gifts due to how naturally they arise and how comfortable they feel. However, with awareness, you can harness these talents to achieve remarkable outcomes and use them to your leadership advantage. Just as Michael Jordan utilized his fiercely competitive spirit, discipline, and consistency to become the greatest basketball player of all time, you too can leverage your strengths to excel in your respective field.
So, how do you become the GOAT leader in your own domain?
1. Understand Your Unique Strengths and Talents
To begin, it’s crucial to identify your unique strengths. Here are a few strategies to help you:
Seek Feedback: ask close friends and colleagues to describe you in three words. Analyze their responses for common themes and delve deeper into their insights to better understand when and how these strengths manifest.
Take an Assessment: I highly recommend Gallup’s CliftonStrengths for a comprehensive understanding of your talents. (As an aside, the WeInspireWe team is certified and trained in debriefing your report if you want to go deeper with the results.)
Reflect on Your Natural Abilities: consider moments when you excelled and identify the factors that contributed to your success.
2. Leverage Your Strengths Effectively
Gallup advocates for a three-step approach: name it, claim it, and aim it.
Naming it involves personalizing your strengths and understanding their significance.
Claiming it means recognizing the unique power your strengths offer.
Aiming it necessitates intentional development and application of those strengths.
No strength is inherently superior; each possesses what Gallup calls "balconies and basements". For instance, I have Responsibility in my top five strengths. The positive
aspect (the "balcony") is my commitment to follow through on my promises, while the downside (the "basement") is my tendency to overcommit due to difficulty saying no. Understanding both the strengths and potential blind spots of your top talents is essential for effective application.
3. Practice and Refine Your Skills
Finally, consistency is key. Think about it as a practice that you are continually working on. As career coach Ryan Kahn aptly states, “master your strengths and outsource your weaknesses.” With intentional focus, practice, and repetition, you can transform your strengths into superpowers and achieve GOAT status in your field.
In conclusion, becoming the greatest of all time is not simply a birthright; it’s about recognizing, developing, and leveraging your unique strengths to excel in your chosen arena. Like Michael Jordan, you can (and should) embrace your journey and strive to become the GOAT leader in your own right.
Sources:
Audrey LaMere is The Confidence Coach at WeInspireWe. Her desire is for every person to recognize and harness the unique brilliance within themselves – owning their identity. Audrey is passionate about raising the consciousness of every leader at home, in the community, and in the boardroom so they can effectively raise themselves up to great leadership and can raise those around them up too. Audrey’s personal mission is to create a ripple effect that impacts the world - enabling greater connection, joy, purpose, and impact globally!
If you’re ready to know who you are, confidently step into your great leadership, and make that lasting impact, then schedule a free coaching session with Audrey today.
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